Final answer:
The soft ball stage, occurring at 234-240 degrees Fahrenheit, is the most common sugar cooking stage for pastry chefs, essential for making fondants, fudge, and buttercreams.
Step-by-step explanation:
The stage of sugar cooking most common for pastry chefs is the soft ball stage. This stage occurs when the sugar syrup reaches temperatures between 234 and 240 degrees Fahrenheit (112 and 116 degrees Celsius). At this point, if you drop a bit of the syrup into cold water, it forms a soft, flexible ball that flattens when removed from the water. This stage is crucial for making fondants, fudge, and buttercreams, which are staples in a pastry chef's repertoire. Understanding sugar stages is essential, and each stage is associated with specific temperature ranges that result in different textures and properties, which are all vital in creating the perfect pastry.